Swallows Gone

The other day, instead of my morning walk being accompanied by swooping swallows, the skies were empty.

Goshawk

On my way through Coal End Wood on my way to Wedge Wood, a goshawk flew down the ride ahead of me. It appeared such a graceful bird, floating along without a wing beat. Unfortunately it was soon out of sight. In Wedge Wood itself, a rather less elegant tawny owl flew out of  sapling, hooting loudly in protest a few minutes later.
There are still many woodland butterflies on the rides and a large bee, the sort of which I have never previously witnessed. It was noticeable for its bright yellow tail, I shall have to research this.

Melanistic Deer

To have a break from using my chainsaw in Wedge Wood, I went for a wander through the woodland drives. Standing at the edge of one of these was a curious sight.
To begin with the deer appeared to be as perplexed as I was, for we both stood and stared at each other. It was the twitching of the extraordinary long ears that convinced me that this was one of the resident fallow deer. However, I was taken aback by the colour, which was almost entirely black, with just a hint of brown on its flanks and other parts. Having seen dark coloured fallow before as well as white examples, I had not countenanced an example of anything so black. It soon shot off into the undergrowth, where its colouration made it completely invisible under the shade of the trees.

Giant Puffball

The warm summer weather continues; blackberries are largely over, and there are plenty of swallows still flying across the fields. There is a growing presence of fungi and I recently saw the largest giant puffball I had ever seen.
It is not a fungus with a great deal of flavour but when sliced and fried with bacon, it takes upon itself the flavour of the meet.

New Forest

Spent a few days last week in the New Forest. Was astonished at how many deer we were able to observe in just a short walk. One particular roe deer allowed us to approach to within about fifteen metres.

Cairngorm Summer

A few weeks ago (mid-August), visited the Cairngorms with my son. Climbed Cairngorm mountain through cloud and hail. The only ones on the summit when it snowed.
The only other sign of life were a pair of snow buntings below the Ptarmigan Restaurant.
As visibility was so poor, decided the next day to stay off the tops. Walked through the Lairig Gruh to the Pools of Dee where we saw a large group of Ptarmigan.
Also me a walker who was completely lost. Was on his way (supposedly) to the summit of Braeriach. He should not have been allowed on the hill at all.